Direct colonial rule is a form of
colonialism
Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...
that involves the establishment of a
centralized foreign authority within a territory, which is run by colonial officials. According to
Michael W. Doyle of
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, in a system of
direct rule
In political science, direct rule is when an imperial or central power takes direct control over the legislature, executive and civil administration of an otherwise largely self-governing territory.
Examples Chechnya
In 1991, Chechen separat ...
, the native population is excluded from all but the lowest level of the colonial government.
academic
Mahmood Mamdani
Mahmood Mamdani, FBA (born 23 April 1946) is an Indian-born Ugandan academic, author, and political commentator, based in New York City. He is the Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and a Professor of Anthropology, Political Science and ...
classifies direct rule as centralized
despotism
In political science, despotism () is a government, form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute Power (social and political), power. Normally, that entity is an individual, the despot (as in an autocracy), but societies whi ...
: a system where natives were not considered citizens.
The opposite of direct colonial rule is
indirect rule
Indirect rule was a system of public administration, governance used by imperial powers to control parts of their empires. This was particularly used by colonial empires like the British Empire to control their possessions in Colonisation of Afri ...
, which integrates pre-established local elites and native institutions into the government.
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See also
* President's rule
* Analysis of Western European colonialism and colonization
*Environmental determinism
Environmental determinism (also known as climatic determinism or geographical determinism) is the study of how the physical environment predisposes societies and states towards particular economic or social developmental (or even more gener ...
References
Colonialism
French colonial empire
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